From left: Rev. Stacey Brady, Chaplain at The Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant; George Walgrove, Norma Wallgrove, Geary Milliken, President/CEO of The Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant.
May 6, 2019 – George and Norma Walgrove, residents of The Lutheran Village at MILLER’S GRANT, have been recognized by the Delaware-Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for outstanding lay ministry. They were among 14 individuals and groups honored at the 2019 Celebrate Lay Ministry Awards Program held at Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster on May 5.
The couple received a Social Ministry Organization Award for their volunteerism both at Miller’s Grant and within the greater Howard County community. George Walgrove has volunteered for Neighbor Ride, an organization that provides affordable, volunteer-based supplemental transportation to seniors, for more than eight years. He drives an average of 77 rides per year – the organization asks volunteers to commit to only 24 rides per year. Since 2011 he has driven over 235 different people to medical, dialysis and other essential appointments. In April George became one of eleven Stephen Ministers commissioned to offer spiritual support to fellow residents at Miller’s Grant.
Norma Walgrove has served on the Board of Trustees for The Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant since 2016, even traveling to a national conference to broaden her knowledge and maximize her impact on the Board. As a retired nurse psychotherapist, Norma advocates for fellow Miller’s Grant residents on the Health Services Committee and has volunteered in several ways with Howard County General Hospital and the American Cancer Society.
The Rev. Stacey Brady, Chaplain at Miller’s Grant, describes the Walgroves as ‘kind, warm, generous people of deep faith’ who work together as members of the resident hospitality committee to welcome their new neighbors and often work together to counsel neighbors in need. They are both also involved with Camp Hemlock, a Christian Service Brigade camp for youth of all denominations, and at Columbia Presbyterian Church.
George recalls as a child growing up during World War II that there was a sense that community is greater than self. “Communities worked together,” he says. “We all have a role to play.”
